Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Waste is a growing issue in everywhere. Some countries solve their problems with the delivery of waste to other places. Other countries are coming up with creative ways to reduce how much they are created.

Out of the sight, out of mind?

Many people forget about the trash as soon as it is taken away, but do not just disappear. Many do not even make it to the trash bin. Instead, it blows in the wind, will be stuck in a tree, or sail into waterways. One item that seems particularly devious ends all over the place is a simple plastic bag.

Around the world, people use approximately one million plastic bags every minute. Hundreds of thousands of whales and sea turtles and other marine animals die every year from plastic bags for food is wrong. Plastic bags do not biodegrade, they photodegrade. This means they break down into tiny pieces and tiny toxic bits that pollute the air, water, and soil. Many countries - including China, India, Taiwan, South Africa, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, and Spain - have been good to get rid of plastic bags altogether or make people pay money for them so they use less. Individual cities like San Francisco also banned plastic bags.

Is this a problem in your city?

What happened to the billions of bags that are used every year? Many buildings in our oceans and add a large mass of floating plastic garbage island. The biggest is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas. You can view video of the children's cartoon about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and video real-life children who make a difference in www.greengorilla.com.

What can you do? Ban the bag! Make your own bags can be reused in the classroom. Working with local grocery stores to provide reusable bags for people to buy. Ask students to make other warning signs about the dangers of plastic bags. Help them to a list of ways to reuse plastic bags that are lying around your house. In what ways the students came up with?

Fun with furoshiki

You do not have to worry about what to do with the garbage if you do not make. Generations of people in Japan have used cloth-folding technique known as furoshiki (f'-ROHSH-kee) to wrap the gifts and bring groceries, among others. Furoshiki eliminate waste, such as plastic bags and wrapping paper. It is reusable and can be used for various things. You can do an online search for videos and diagrams for folding furoshiki to give your students an overview of the process. Of course, the real fun is in trying to own. Start your search for ideas in www.furoshiki.com / techniques.php.

Every child needs a bandana or large scarf (former shop and Grandma's closet is a great place to look). You can tell them to make crafts that are then wrapped in a cloth bag or their own making. You can also tell them to practice many forms of packaging such as books or cans. See how creative they can get by folding and knotting.